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| Pre-race meeting at the Triathlon |
Last weekend, we hosted our annual Spring Triathlon, which consists of a 500 yard swim, 10 mile bike ride, and a 5k run. The event was a great success! With nice weather and a good turnout, it was a fun event for us and the community. Several of our swimmers competed individually and as part of a team. The triathlon and the awards banquet mark the end of our team-wide events for the year.
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| Jr., Dane Kawamoto finishing the race! |
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| New records! |
Tuesday night was the annual Swimming and Varsity Athletics award banquet. As always, it was a great celebration not just of our achievements in the pool this season, but it was an opportunity to come together as a group again before the end of the year.
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| Elise and Shanley, 400 IM record holders |
Our evening started with signing broken records. With the new records up, the old ones came down and were signed by those who are now on the record board. Broken records then get packed up and sent to their previous owners--a great Whitman Swimming tradition that we've had since the pool opened in 2006.
Following record signing, we had dinner in Sherwood followed by a heap of awards.
First were peer awards. The following awards were voted on by the Men's and Women's team and then awarded to the winners, along with a coveted yellow and white towel as a prize.
- "STL Superstar" is given to the man and woman with more spirit than they know what to do with. The award went to Zoey Watts and Kincaid Hoffman, both first-year swimmers.
- "New Missionary" is given to the first-year student-athletes who embody everything that Whitman Swimming stands for. Those recipients were Sean Terada, Shanley Miller, Zoey Watts, and Kincaid Hoffman.
- "Workout Warrior" is given to the man and woman who bring 100% effort to every practice. Those winners were Will Erickson and Shanley Miller.
- "Most Inspirational" is given to the man and woman who keep spirits high even when things aren't going as well as we might like. The winners this year were Keller Hawkins and Dane Kawamoto.
- The "Landshark" award goes to the man and woman who go above and beyond with their work ethic in the weight room. This year's winners were Jo Brunner and Nic Win.
- "Most Improved" goes to the man and woman who showed dramatic growth throughout the course of this season. The breaststrokers took it home this year, going to Robby Dorn and Nina Dipboye.
- Finally, the "MVP" award, not surprisingly, went to Karl Mering and Claire Collins after a truly incredible season.
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| Sean, Zoey, Kincaid, and Shanley |
The coaching staff got to do some award giving as well, selecting a man and a a woman to receive the Coach's Award. The award is given to the man and woman who are not just exemplary teammates and exemplary student-athletes, but are just genuinely great people to have at practice every day. The winners of the Coach's Award were Ellen Banks and Cole Weinstein.
Following the swimming banquet, we went to the Varsity Athletics banquet where several of our swimmers received recognition.
First-year swimmers Tai Hallstein and Cole Weinstein were both recipients of the "Most Outstanding Performer" award, given to the man and woman in his or her first season who demonstrate truly outstanding athletic accomplishment. Sam Starr and Elise Tinseth were both nominated as Most Outstanding Performers in the Sophomore class. Karl Mering was selected as the Most Outstanding Male Performer from the junior class. Finally, Claire Collins was nominated as the Most Outstanding Performer for the Senior women's class.
But the evening wasn't over for Claire, as she was the Women's recipient of the Borleske Trophy, an honor given to a senior man and woman for having not just completed an outstanding athletic career, but for being an engaged, enthusiastic member of our Varsity Athletics Department, as well as a model student and community member. The last Woman Swimmer to receive the award was Whitman's Swimming's first ever National Championship qualifier, Erin Pettersen, in 2008.
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| From left, Karl, Sam, Jenn, Claire, Cole and Tai |
All in all, it was a great last hurrah for the team and especially for our four senior women, Ellen Banks, Claire Collins, Keller Hawkins, and Melanie Notari, who have been incredible leaders and an inspiration for the entire team. They are by far the highest achieving senior class that our team has ever had. Their work ethic, commitment to each other and the team, and remarkable achievements outside the pool, will continue to inspire future generations of swimmers for years to come!
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| From left, Keller, Claire, Mel and Ellen |
Now we look ahead to finals and Commencement. Finals begin one week from today, May 15th, and conclude on May 20th. Commencement takes place on Sunday, May 25th.
